Python script: Emby MDBList Collection Creator

[Amything 122]

Hey, I've released a plugin that makes the experience more user friendly and no fiddling with scripts  It's missing a few features to catch up to the script but will be there soon! See: 

 

[dustart 8]

On 12/21/2024 at 8:16 PM, coreyh74 said:

Forgive me if this is answered somewhere, I did not check it. Is there a way to specify a certain category the movies/shows are pulled from (such as regular Movies library, or 4K movies library) etc if that makes sense?

I have question how to sort this like is on mdblist is it posible ? 

[Amything 122]

16 hours ago, dustart said:

I have question how to sort this like is on mdblist is it posible ? 

You mean that you want to keep the collection sorting same as MDBList right?  I'm afraid not. Within Emby you have different ways to sort it though. 

Personally I like to have "update_items_sort_names_default_value = true". It modifies the sort name for every item in the collection. That way the newest stuff is always first, but it comes with downsides. Explained here: https://github.com/jonjonsson/Emby-MDBList-Collection-Creator?tab=readme-ov-file#sorting-shows-and-movies-by-time-added

[dustart 8]

1 hour ago, Amything said:

You mean that you want to keep the collection sorting same as MDBList right?  I'm afraid not. Within Emby you have different ways to sort it though. 

Personally I like to have "update_items_sort_names_default_value = true". It modifies the sort name for every item in the collection. That way the newest stuff is always first, but it comes with downsides. Explained here: https://github.com/jonjonsson/Emby-MDBList-Collection-Creator?tab=readme-ov-file#sorting-shows-and-movies-by-time-added

Thank you this have potential in future to be new kometa.

[dustart 8]

On 1/24/2024 at 2:19 PM, Amything said:

Edit: Updated post with latest information

Emby MDBList Collection Creator

URL: https://github.com/jonjonsson/Emby-MDBList-Collection-Creator

This tool allows you to convert lists from MDBList.com into collections within your Emby media server. MDBList aggregates content lists from various platforms including Trakt and IMDB.

Features

• List Conversion: Transform MDBList lists into Emby collections
• Metadata Refresh: Keep ratings up-to-date for newly released content
• Collection Images: Upload local or remote images for collections posters
• Seasonal Collections: Specify when a collections should be visible
• Collection Ordering: Show your collections in order of which one was update
• Backup & Restore: Additional utilities to backup and restore watch history and favorites

Prerequisites:

To use this script, you need:

• Python installed on your system
• "Requests" Python package (install with `pip install requests`)
• Admin privileges on your Emby server
• A user account on [MDBList](https://mdblist.com/)
• The script has been tested with Emby Version 4.8.8.0 and later, but other recent versions should also be compatible

Please check out the GitHub Link for more detailed information

I tried using a static list on MDBList. First, I added two movies, then deleted those two and added three new ones, but nothing updates. The terminal just shows: ‘List has 2 IMDB IDs’, and nothing ever changes. Why is that? Thank you.

[Amything 122]

10 hours ago, dustart said:

added two movies, then deleted those two and added three new ones, but nothing updates.

Hey, it's a bit hard to help with this, most likely it's not a script issue. Make sure that the list is updated on MDBList, it may not be instant when you add or remove items. If you add /json to the end of the mdblist url you can see what the script sees. 

For example this is a static list:
https://mdblist.com/lists/amything/stephen-king-series

Then add /json
https://mdblist.com/lists/amything/stephen-king-series/json

If the changes are not there the collection will not be updated.

[Amything 122]

There is an important update.

MDBList updated the API so that when you get items it limits it to 1000 items per request vs unlimited before.

If your MDBLists are over 1000 items only the first 1000 items will be checked unless you update.

Plug : if you want to get out of manually managing the script and support further dev, try my plugin 

[sh0rty 714]

Runs smooth like butter since months or should I say years?, so a huge kudos again for @Amything

Edited December 31, 2025 by sh0rty

[sh0rty 714]

@AmythingJust recognized when new media is added to a collection, Emby loses the collection image of the changed collection and it's replaced with the default multi-cover image generated by Emby (since 4.9.1.80 or .90?). On next MDBList Collection Creator scheduled run, it tells that there is already a Poster set to the specified path. is  Is there anything I can do to prevent that e.g. force of replacing the image on every scheduled run? Posters I set up in the MDBList Collection Creator config are reachable.

For now, I commented this out to get the posters refreshed on every scheduled run of your container script.

if poster_path == db_manager.get_config_for_section(collection_id, "poster_path"):
    #     print(f"Poster for {collection_name} is already set to the specified path.")
    #     return

 

Edited December 31, 2025 by sh0rty

[Amything 122]

4 hours ago, sh0rty said:

Emby loses the collection image of the changed collection and it's replaced with the default multi-cover image generated by Emby

This is not on beta right?

It's not expected behavior so I want to say it's some issue that is not related to the script. I guess you could disable all image fetches for the collection library setting. Then the multi-cover image will not be generated.

[Killface69 96]

9 hours ago, Amything said:

This is not on beta right?

It's not expected behavior so I want to say it's some issue that is not related to the script. I guess you could disable all image fetches for the collection library setting. Then the multi-cover image will not be generated.

The issue was introduced in one of the later 4.9 beta versions, still existing in 4.9 stable. 
Was fixed in the latest beta. 

[sh0rty 714]

Yes I'm now on 4.9.1.90 stable.

 

Happy new Year!

Edited January 1 by sh0rty